


Life of the Party

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Sportsfest 2018 [64]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Drinking, Gen, Getting Served
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 05:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16056614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: A reunion of old friends was interrupted by some large and irritated thugs, threatening to ruin their night. However, in true ace and captain fashion, Wakatoshi handled it.





	Life of the Party

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Sportsfest 2018 bonus round 3.

Wakatoshi’s nose itched at the cigarette smoke lingering in the air of the bar, but he huffed a heavy breath and let the heavy windowless door fall shut behind him. He glanced around the room, but it didn’t take much effort to find the party he was looking for. There were few groups of people who averaged over 180 centimeters, but the members on an ex volleyball team would be one of them.

“Hey, Wakatoshi!” Satori waved from his spot behind a pool table, and Reon lifted a mug of beer in salute. Eita didn’t look up from his poised position as he drew back his pool cue and took his shot. The resulting clatter of balls drew a howl of lament from Hayato when it left him with four on the table and Eita just with the eight ball.

The game ended in short order, and Wakatoshi met the rest at the table they had been holding in the far corner of the pool table area. “Greetings,” he prefaced once his old teammates were seated.

“Greetings? Really?” Satori rolled his eyes. “You always did talk like an alien. Glad to see you’re still you.”

Frowning, Wakatoshi asked, “Who else would I be?”

A series of titters made their way around the table, but they were familiar companions for Wakatoshi. Even though it had been far too long since their last meetup, this group had been his best and longest companions. It had just come up on ten years since they had met each other in the gyms of Shiratorizawa for the first time.

Wakatoshi settled in while a server came to take their drink orders, and he let the old comfortable camaraderie wash over him.

They were over an hour and a sea of used glasses into their night when the mood in the room started to change. A group of rough looking men entered the bar, and the noise in the group gradually dwindled and died. Even the bartender stopped mid-sentence when he saw who was there.

“Uh-oh.” Satori leaned against Wakatoshi’s shoulder and harrumphed. “That is a really big dude.”

It didn’t take much deduction to know who he was referring to. Though Wakatoshi was about equal in height with the group leader, the guy easily had over ten kilos on him in pure muscle. Wakatoshi wouldn’t say he was afraid of much, especially in a single person, but he couldn’t think of many things that would compel him to get into an altercation with a man that size.

That resolve, however, appeared like it was about to be tested when the large newcomer strode straight for their corner of the bar and said gruffly, “You’re sitting at my table.”

Eita blanched and turned to Reon. “Eh, we were just about to move anyway, weren’t we?”

Reon’s jaw clenched. He muttered a quiet, “Yeah, I think we were.”

The sight of the strongest people he had ever known being cowed by this stranger made something bristle inside of Wakatoshi’s beer-soaked belly. A less impaired version of himself might have bowed to the wishes of his friends and moved along to another table, but that Wakatoshi probably checked out for the night after the first pitcher went down the hatch. 

_ This _ Wakatoshi stood and met the man’s gaze unflinchingly and said, “I think not.” A few gasps came from the general population of the bar and a few groans from behind. Wakatoshi paid them no heed. “We’ve been here for quite some time, and there doesn’t seem to be a label of any kind saying it’s anyone else’s but whoever gets there first.”

“Oh, really?” The man crossed his arms and stepped closer to Wakatoshi, revealing that he was in fact a little bit taller, as well. He swiveled his head back to address his crew. “Looks like our name isn’t on the table, boys. How could we miss our reservations?”

A few of them tittered, but Wakatoshi didn’t flinch. “You’re welcome to wait until we’re finished. No one else has asked to have our table once we leave.”

“Maybe because no one is stupid enough to take it.”

A hand touched Wakatoshi’s shoulder, and he heard Reon murmur, “Perhaps we should just —” 

His suggestion was cut off by Wakatoshi raising a hand. “I’ll handle it.” Taking one step even closer to his counterpart, they were only a few centimeters apart. It was just enough space for him to cross his arms and force his own musculature to swell against to confines of his t-shirt sleeves. Satori had always told him he looked intimidating like that; Wakatoshi decided to test that theory. “I believe I already informed you that we’re staying right where we are until we call it a night. Do you need me to explain that with smaller words?”

“Kid, you are a tall drink of dumbass.” The man bumped his chest against Wakatoshi’s crossed arms. “How about we settle this, just me and you?”

Behind him, Eita hissed, “Wakatoshi, don’t. It’s not worth it.”

“Probably not.” Wakatoshi didn’t let the force of his gaze falter for even a second. “What do you have in mind?”

From his pocket, the guy produced a handful of fifty yen coins and gave the arcade games in the corner a pointed glance. “May the best man win.”

“Indeed.”

Ten minutes later, most of the population of the bar was crowded around the two of them as they duked it out on the Dancerush Stardom game, one in front of the other as they competed for the highest scores.

Wakatoshi’s feet moved on their own as the rhythm pattern whirred from the screen into his brain, and behind him, he could hear his teammates cheering him on, chanting, “Waka! Waka!”

His opponent’s group were urging him along, as well, with less organized cries of, “Kick that guy’s ass, Yuzu-san!” 

This was it, the final battle. Each of them had won one previous round apiece, and the third and final song would determine who would inhabit the corner table in the pool area for the remainder of the evening. 

Yuzu growled his frustration at Wakatoshi’s lead, and Wakatoshi’s lip curled with satisfaction as Yuzu’s rhythm started to falter because of it. The song wound to an end, and Wakatoshi’s victory was clear and indisputable.

He turned to look out into the crowd behind them, and while they all keened in for his reaction, Wakatoshi pumped a single fist into the air and the entire place roared in reply. Hands he didn’t know who they belonged to clapped his shoulder on his way back to the table. When he sat, his friends piled around the table in kind, eyes alight.

“That was the coolest damn thing I’ve ever seen,” Satori crooned, and there were several nods of agreement. 

Hayato chortled. “I didn’t know you played dance games.”

Wakatoshi shrugged. “I don’t.” His attention wandered across the bar, where Yuzu sat pouting at a table surrounded by his own friends, who were not in nearly as jovial a mood. “I just really dislike people who make claims they can’t back up.”

Reon laughed next to him and bumped his shoulder against Wakatoshi’s. “Yeah, you were always like that.”

“Now that that’s over and I can breathe again,” Eita interjected, “I can admit that this has been a great night.” His declaration was met with a chorus of approval.

Raising his full glass, compliments of the slew of drinks bought by the crowd to commemorate Wakatoshi’s upset victory, Satori said, “To the life of the party!”

“Life of the party!” The toast was marked by more than just their table, and Wakatoshi smiled into his drink.

**Author's Note:**

> Had you going, didn't I?


End file.
